If You Had Bought $10,000 of Apple Stock When Steve Jobs Handpicked Tim Cook as the Next CEO, Here's How Much You'd Have Today

Steve Jobs is regarded as one of the most visionary corporate leaders in recent history, but his handpicked successor, Tim Cook, may have been even more important to Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) success. Jobs resigned as CEO in August 2011, recommending Cook as his replacement. The board immediately approved Cook as CEO, and he's served in that role for the last 15 years.

Cook will step down as CEO at the end of the month. John Ternus will take over as CEO on Sept. 1.

Tim Cook might be a household name today, but he was far from widely known when he took over as the head of Apple. The stock immediately fell 5% upon news of Jobs' resignation. But if you had bought Apple stock when others were selling, you'd have made an incredible return over the last 15 years.

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Image source: Apple.

Here's how much $10,000 invested in Apple would be worth today

Shares of Apple opened at just over $365 after the market digested the news of Jobs' resignation. A $10,000 investment would've bought you 27.4 shares at the market open (if your broker allowed fractional shares). Those 27.4 shares would become 766.9 shares after stock splits in 2014 and 2020, worth about $241,500 as of this writing. Cook initiated a dividend in 2012, returning some of Apple's ample free cash flow to shareholders every quarter. If you had reinvested your dividends back into Apple stock, you'd have closer to $289,500.

That's a phenomenal return, and it's owed in large part to Cook's operational excellence. Jobs handed Cook a strong product portfolio, and Cook ensured Apple could grow those products and expand the Apple ecosystem. Cook expanded iPhone availability to practically every carrier worldwide. He also oversaw the introduction and growth of Apple Watch and AirPods, which are a $36 billion business today. And he took Apple's services segment from a $3 billion business to a $120 billion profit center.

Cook leaves Apple in a good position. Sales are growing quickly, driven by strong iPhone demand. Investors expect strong results in the fourth and first quarters, driven by demand from the company's long-awaited Siri revamp. Its new low-end Macbook Neo is helping produce excellent results for the Mac segment.

Ternus will be tasked with bringing Apple fully into the AI era. Apple is committed to maintaining user privacy by conducting as much AI processing on-device as possible. It also signed a deal for custom AI accelerator chips with Broadcom through 2031. Building out Apple's AI capabilities could be the biggest first task for Ternus, and it remains a huge opportunity for the company.

While investors are unlikely to turn another $10,000 investment into $289,500 over the next 15 years, the stock can continue to produce strong returns even after Cook steps down as CEO.

Adam Levy has positions in Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple and Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.